Anything it lacks is made up for in scope.

Rating: Null/10 (29 July 2013)

When Earth is periodically attacked by gigantic monster-like creatures (Kaijus) that emerge from the Pacific Rim, immense Robots (Jaegers) are created and controlled by human pilots to prevent our extinction.
This is more linear than director Guillermo Del Toro's other films and productions, it's a popcorn summer flick which delivers on entrainment. Del Toro and writer Travis Beacham's concept is steeped in Asian mythology and pop culture, not seen since B-film Robot Jox (1989) and more recently the panned Skyline (2010). While it lacks the complexly of Del Toro's other offerings it delivers on wonderful spectacular visuals and impressive special effects. It's dark, it's oily - reminiscent of Godzilla (1998) and Del Toro's own Mimic (1997) and Hellboy (2004) in atmosphere it's still Del Toro but he makes every 12 year old dream come true in content. Comparably where Transformers (2007) felt over long and 'promised' to deliver, crammed with unnecessary padded dialogue, Rim actually delivers and doesn't pretend to be anything it's not.
It has a memorable score by Ramin Djawadi and a powerful sound design to match. The lead actors are functional and effective enough although no one matches Idris Elba's calibre. Ron Perlman is limited to a humours extended cameo. There's the obligatory comic release characters, a character out for revenge, the doubting jock, and a guy haunted by the events from his past to name a few clichés - yes it has its Independence Day (1996) moments too but that limited cheese is addressed with the other players mocking and bringing the pretentious speeches back down to earth like a Jaeger's crashing on a Kaiju.
There's no smoke and mirrors it's a B-film concept with a big budget, Pacific Rim is a basic fun move with the ILM visuals being more impressive than they need to be.